Diego A.

Diego focuses on stories from North and South America, from colonial history and pirates to cartels and the modern underworld. He is especially drawn to places where crime, power, and myth collide.

The most recent posts by

Diego

A.

Cartagena’s Inquisition Palace: A Baroque Guillotine in the Caribbean Sun

Tragedies & Disasters

Cartagena’s Inquisition Palace: A Baroque Guillotine in the Caribbean Sun

Step inside Cartagena’s Palace of the Inquisition, where faith became fear and torture was justice. Explore the dark history of the Spanish Inquisition in the New World, from the crypto-Jews and enslaved Africans who faced its wrath to the haunting legacy that still lingers in its torture chambers.

Portrait of a male author wearing a cap and backpack, smiling with a city skyline at sunset in the background.

Diego A.

Ciudad Perdida: Colombia’s Lost City of the Tayrona Reclaimed by the Jungle

Ruins of Civilizations

Ciudad Perdida: Colombia’s Lost City of the Tayrona Reclaimed by the Jungle

Discover Ciudad Perdida, Colombia’s lost city of the Tayrona, hidden for centuries in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. Trek through dense jungle to uncover stone terraces, sacred plazas, and the living traditions of the Kogi people, who still guard the secrets of their ancestors.

Chicago’s Bloodstained Century: Gangsters, Prohibition and the Birth of Organized Crime

Uncover the violent, corrupt underworld of early 20th-century Chicago, where gangsters like Al Capone ruled the streets, Prohibition fueled a blood-soaked bootlegging war, and City Hall was in the mob’s pocket.

Alcatraz: The Rock That Broke Men

Step inside Alcatraz, America’s most infamous prison, where the walls still echo with the cries of Al Capone, the defiance of escape artists, and the ghosts of inmates broken by isolation.

Villa Epecuén: Argentina’s Sunken Ghost Town Rising from Salt and Silence

Villa Epecuén was once a thriving Argentine resort, drowned overnight when a dam burst in 1985. Decades later, the waters receded — revealing a ghost town of salt, ruins, and silence.

Humberstone: Chile’s Atacama Desert Ghost Town of the Nitrate Empire

In the Atacama Desert, Humberstone once thrived on the riches of nitrate. Now its theaters, schools, and homes stand empty — a ghost city preserved in silence and sun.

Fordlândia: Henry Ford’s Failed American Utopia in the Amazon Jungle

Deep in the Amazon lies Fordlândia, Henry Ford’s abandoned dream city. Built as a model American town to secure rubber, it was destroyed by disease, rebellion, and the jungle itself.

Diego A.

The Lagos Coast and Badagry: The Epicenter of Human Erasure

Tragedies & Disasters

The Lagos Coast and Badagry: The Epicenter of Human Erasure

Discover the dark history of the Lagos Coast and Badagry. From the barracoons of Seriki Abass to the Point of No Return, explore Nigeria’s preserved slave trade ruins.

Diego A.

Diego A.

The most recent posts by Diego A.

Cartagena’s Inquisition Palace: A Baroque Guillotine in the Caribbean Sun

Ciudad Perdida: Colombia’s Lost City of the Tayrona Reclaimed by the Jungle

Chicago’s Bloodstained Century: Gangsters, Prohibition and the Birth of Organized Crime

Alcatraz: The Rock That Broke Men

Villa Epecuén: Argentina’s Sunken Ghost Town Rising from Salt and Silence

Humberstone: Chile’s Atacama Desert Ghost Town of the Nitrate Empire

Fordlândia: Henry Ford’s Failed American Utopia in the Amazon Jungle

The Lagos Coast and Badagry: The Epicenter of Human Erasure

The most recent posts by

Diego

A.